Appliance for slaughtering cattle and like animals.



G. RANSOM.

i. APPLIANGB FOR SLAUGHTERING CATTLEv AND LIKE ANIMALS.

' APPLIoATIoN FILED AUG. s, 1913.

Patented June 16,1914

CHARLES Ransom, or LoNnoN, iiNuLAivio.v

ABPLIANCE FOR SLAUGHTERING CATTLE AND LIKE ANIMALS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented une 16, 1914.

'Application filed August 9, 1913. Serial No. 783,659.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES RANsoM, a subject of the King of Grreat Britain, residing in London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Appliances for Slaughtering Cattle and like Animals, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to apparatus.. for slaughtering cattle, horses and other animals, and has for its object to provide an.

signed to perforate the head of the animal to be slaughtered. The plunger or piston is normally held in its withdrawn or innermost position by means of a trigger-released catch or the like, and on the trigger-catch being released the plunger is propelled forward and so forces the striking-bolt into the head of an animal against which the mu-zzle end of the appliance is placed. In practice,

means are advantageously provided whereby the striking-bolt can bewithdrawn from the animals head immediately it has entered the same, so that the animal is free to fall immediately the blow is struck. To this end I provide a sleeve which is slidably mounted upon the muzzle end of the barrel or tube of the appliance, the said sleeve carrying aV plunger, rod or the like, the axis of which is parallel to the sliding'sleeve and which enters one end of a tube or cylinder, the

other end of which is closed and is in com-v munication with the barrel through anv aperture or apertures formed 1n the4 said,

barrel at a point such that the said aperture or apertures is or are uncovered when the piston has been propelled fully forward in the barrel. With this arrangement, assum ing the muzzle of the barrel is placed against the animals headand that the piston isl propelled forward so as to cause the striking-bolt to penetrate the, animals head as above described,'as soon as the said piston has passed the aforesaid apertures, the compressed `air in the barrel passes intothe tube yor cylinder carrying the plunger-0f the slidmg sleeve and'so forces forward the said sleeve, the front end of which, by bearing against the animals head, pushes back the ,barrel of the appliance and so withdraws the lstriking-bolt from the animals head. The striker can then be forced back into its ini- ,tial position in which it is retained by the `trigger-catch through the medium of a rod which is inserted into the muzzle of the barrell The sliding sleeve can then be also returned to its initial position whereupon the appliance is ready for re-use. In a modifled arrangement the withdrawal of the striker from the head of the animal is effected by mechanical means directly operated or released by the advancing striker. ,For this purpose a suitable construction conjsists in mounting asliding sleeve upon the muzzle end of the barrel, the said sleeve being initially slid on to the barrel so that its outer end is coincident with that of the barrel, in which position the sleeve puts into tension a spring, one end of which is secured to its rear end and the other to a pin projecting from the barrel and engaging a slot in the sleeve. The sleeve is held in the retracted position by means of a spring catch which passes through a slot in the Said sleeve and in the barrel, and is formed with a curved or inclined surface at that part which protrudes into the barrel. VVit-h this arrangement when the striker is `projected forward under the air pressure it comes into contact at the end of its stroke with the aforementioned inclined face of the catch which it presses outward so as to release the sleeve from engagement with the barrel, the said sleeve being thereupon immediately pulled forward under the action of the stretched spring so as to withdraw .the striker from the head of the animal in `the manner hereinbefore described. This `arrangement has the advantage over that above described that no leakage of air takes place at the muzzle end of the barrel, and in practice means may also be adopted whereby leakage of air is minimized at the reservoir endof the appliance.

To enable my invention to be fully understood, I will describe it by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a longitudinal section of an appliance made according to the invention. Fig. 2 is an end view of the appliance. Fig. 3 is an underside view thereof, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the muzzle end. of the appliance showing the striker and the tube projected. Fig. 5 is an elevation of a suitable rod for returning the striker to the initial position, and Figs. 6 and 7, are respectively an end view and a longitudinal sectionvof the modified construction of striker withdrawing device.

Referring first to Figs. l to 5, a represents thebarrel or tube which at its rear end enters the reservoir b which is also of a cylindrical shape and is concentrically arranged around the rear end of the said barrel or tube a to which it is secured in any suitable way, and with the rear end of which it is in communication through the medium of the holes c, c in the said barrel. Z is the piston or plunger which fits in the barrel a and which is packed by means of the packing ring Z1 in the ordinary way. e is the catch for retaining the piston Z in the witlr drawn position, shown in Fig. l. The catch illustrated is in the form of a rod, the inner end of which is mounted in a casing f which enters the reservoir Z) and is provided with a neck f1 by means of which it is in Colnmunication with the barrel a, so that the rode can pass through into the said barrel and engage with the terminal flange Z2 upon the piston (Z, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1. The rod e is provided with a piston g which fits air tightly in the casing f, so as to prevent an escape of air from the reservoir b,

and the outer end of the said rod engages a forked end Zt of the trigger lever z' which is pivoted at l to lugs 2 upon the outer end of the casing f. It will be obvious that the user by grasping the casing f and trigger z' can pull the said trigger` toward the casing against the action of the spring Z3, and thus depress the rod e, thereby releasing the piston a which is then free to be projected forward by the compressed air contained in the reservoir Z). The requisite compressed air is introduced into the said reservoir through the filling valve y' which is constructed, as illustrated, of a form to permit of a pump of the bicycle tire type being applied; the pressure of air in the reservoir can be indicated in the gage 7s. Z is the striking-bolt or striker which is secured to the front end of the piston cZ, the front end of the said striker being formed with a cutting edge m and being formed with a recess a, the base of which is in communication with the surface of the striker by means of the oblique passage 0. The passage 0 permits the escape of air from the end of said striker as it enters the animals skull. p is a cushion or pad which is provided at the front end of the piston or plunger' cZ and g is a similar cushion which is provided at the muzzle end of the barrel a. r is the sleeve which is loosely mounted upon the muzzle end of the barrel a relatively to which it is prevented Vfrom rotating by means of the pin r1 upon the barrel, which engages the groove r2 in the said sleeve. s is the plunger which is attached to the sleeve 1 so that its axis is parallel therewith and t is the tube or cylinder in which the said plunger s fits and` and that air at the required pressure has been stored in the reservoir ZJ, the muzzle of the barrel a is placed against the head of the animal Vto be slaughtered, and the trigger i operated so as to release catch e in t-he manner above described, whereupon the piston Z is propelled forward by the compressed air stored in the reservoir b, and forces the striker Z into the animals head; lthe passage of the piston being arrested finally by the contact of the cushions p and q. Vhen the piston CZ has reached this position, however, the apertures e in the barrel a have been opened to the compressed air in the said barrel which thus passes to the rear of the plunger s which is thereby forced forward carrying with it the sliding sleeve r. As the front end of the sleeve bears against the head of the animal being slaughtered, the

'barrel a is pushed backward thus withdrawing the striker Z from the animals head so that the said animal is released from the appliance, this position of the parts is illustrated in Fig. l. In practice the sequence of operations takes place so rapidly that the animal drops practically instantaneously after the trigger is pulled. The parts can be returned to the initial position by forcing back the piston (Z against the pressure of air in the reservoir, this being easily efected by means of a tool such as the hollow rod illustrated in Fig. 5.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate a method of effecting the withdrawal of the striker from the head of the animal by means mechant cally operated directly by the striker as it reaches the end of the barrel a. In this construction the sleeve a" which is mounted upon the end of the barrel 0, is provided at or near its rear end with a pin w to which one end of the spring w1 is secured, the other end of the said spring being attached to the pin 102 secured to the muzzle of the barrel a and engaging in a slot 'w3 in the sleeve, so that the said sleeve can move longitudinally on the barrel, and can be pushed backward on the said barrel into the position shown in Fig. 7, in which its front end is coincident with the muzzle end of the barrel and in which position the spring w1 is in considerable tension. The sleeve is held in this retracted position by means of the catch the rear face of which is inclined as shown and which is mounted upon the end of the spring m1 carried by the front end of the sleeve r, the said catch m protruding through a hole m2 in the sleeve and a hole m3 in the barrel a which are coincident with one another when the sleeve is in the position indicated. The sleeve and barrel are thus held by the said catch in the retracted position. With this construction, on the striker Z being projected forward by the air pressure as hereinbefore described it comes at the end of its stroke into contact with the inclined face of the catch x which it presses outward so as to disengagethe sleeve 1" from the barrel a, whereupon the said sleeve is immediately pulled forward under the action of the spring w1, thus withdrawing the striker from the head of the animal in a manner similar to that effected by the appliance illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4. As above mentioned and as will be obvious there is no leakage of air at the muzzle end of the appliance as is the case with the foregoing arrangement, and this is of advantage in practice in cases, for example, where the appliance is required for dealing with a relatively large number of animals at any one time.

Claims:

l. An appliance for slaughtering cattle or other animals, comprising a barrel, a striker movable in said barrel, a compressed air reservoir in communication with the barrel, means for retaining the striker against the air pressure and releasing it to permit the said air to act thereon, means for checking the striker at the outer end of the barrel, and means for. pushing the barrel back to effect the withdrawal of the striker from the animal. l

2. An appliance for slaughtering cattle or other animals comprising a barrel, a striker movable in said barrel, a compressed air reservoir in communication with the barrel, means for retaining the striker against the air pressure and for releasing it to permit the said air to act thereon, means for checking the striker at the outer end of the barrel, a member slidable upon the end of the barrel, and means released by the striker for moving said member forward when the piston reaches the end of its travel.

3. An appliance for slaughtering cattle or other animals comprising a barrel, a striker movable in said barrel, a compressed air reservoir in communication with the barrel, means for retaining the striker against the air pressure and for releasing it to permit the said air to act thereon, means for check-v ing the piston at the outer end of the barrel, a member slidable upon the end of the barrel, a spring acting upon the slidable member against the action of the spring until the striker reaches the end of its travel.

4. An appliance for slaughtering cattle or other animals comprising a barrel, a striker movable in said barrel, a compressed air reservoir in communication with the barrel, means for retaining the striker against the air pressure and for releasing it t'o permit the said air to act thereon, means for checking the piston at the outer end of the barrel, means for withdrawing the striker from the animal comprising a sleeve slidable upon the end of the barrel, a resilient member on said sleeve, a projection on said resilient member disposed in the path of the striker, a spring acting upon the sleeve and an abutment engaging the projection on the resilient member to hold the sleeve against the action of the spring until released by the striker.

5. An appliance for slaughtering cattle or other animals comprising a barrel, a piston in said barrel, a striker on said piston, a reservoir for compressed air surrounding one end of said barrel, a communication between the reservoir and the barrel, means for checking the piston at the outer end of the barrel, means for holding said piston against the air pressure, and for releasing it to permit said air to act thereon, and means for effecting the withdrawal of the striker from the animal.

6. An appliance for slaughtering cattle or other animals comprising a barrel, a piston in said barrel, comprising a body, a collar at each end of said body, packing outside the collars, a screwed extension on the forward end of the body, a striker connected to said extension, a reservoir for compressed air surrounding one end of said barrel, a communication between the reservoir and the barrel, means for checking the piston at the outer end of the barrel, means for holding said piston against the air pressure, and for releasing it to permit said air to act thereon, and means for effecting the withdrawal of the striker from the animal.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of the two undersigned witnesses.

CHARLES RANSOM.

Witnesses:

GEORGE HIBBERT ROGERS, NOEL WHITMEE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

